Some Other Beginning's End
by Smapdi
Summary: Set a few months after Xmas, Mindy has parted ways with Cliff. She just can't get a certain someone off her mind... And it seems the feelings are mutual.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note - thanks for the nice reviews on my first story. This one is longer, and this chapter just sets the stage with a little backstory. It has a mature theme in this particular chapter but its mostly just alluded to, nothing explicit. **

It ended not with a bang, but with a whisper. Literally.

Mindy and Cliff had been dating a few months, which in Mindy time would normally mean a serious relationship. Cliff was possibly the best boyfriend Mindy had ever had - he was kind and honest, he didn't cheat, he cared about her wants and needs. He even said "I love you" first. First, and last - it freaked Mindy out and signaled the end of yet another relationship. For as wonderful a boyfriend Cliff was for Mindy, she was a terrible girlfriend, and she knew it. She felt terribly guilty. "I really am too picky!" She though to herself, regretfully. There was no reason for her not to be happy with Cliff.

Well, maybe one reason.

The worst part was that she couldn't turn to her best friend to whine and/or ask for advice (not that she would actually take it!) While Danny certainly liked to give advice, mostly unsolicited, this topic was not only too sensitive, but way, way too awkward for her to approach him with... even if he wasn't the problem.

You see, while Cliff treated Mindy like a queen, buying her shoes and taking her on weekend trips, he was unable to provide one thing that Mindy really needed. And it wasn't like he didn't try - oh no, in fact he often tried a little too hard. Mindy was not as good of an actress as she thought and Cliff definitely caught on, leading to more awkwardness and effort on his part. Finally one evening he managed to achieve his goal, but what he didn't know was he had a little help in that department. Mindy couldn't help herself, and from that point on, she was guilt ridden. She was, in effect, cheating on her man... with another man... in her mind.

It wasn't that Cliff wasn't sexy, or skilled, not at all. There was just no chemistry, no passion. No HEAT. And for all the great things about Cliff, she couldn't get past this, especially when there as someone with whom she got all hot and bothered over, even when he went there. "It isn't fair to Cliff," thought Mindy, and she selfishly thought it wasn't fair to herself either.

And of course, it was very unfair to Danny, even though he was unaware.

So Mindy worked up her courage, and told Cliff goodbye. Her timing was not the best, as Cliff had come over after a late night at the office, seeking a little special relaxation. Mindy just couldn't do it. She couldn't spend one more night in the arms, and the bed, of a man who loved her while she had to picture someone else to get through it. So when he was nuzzling her neck and whispering sweet nothings, she had a little outburst. Like pulling off a band aid, she had to do it quickly. And unfortunately, loudly.

"Stop, Cliff. Stop. I'm so sorry. You are so wonderful but I don't love you I'm so sorry please don't hate me!" Mindy expected an argument, or questions, or anger. Of course she didn't mention anything that would hurt him worse, but Cliff was a lawyer. His powers of deduction were impressive and he had already pieced a few things together from her recent behavior. Like the time she yelled out "DANNY!" in the throes of passion, even though she tried to cover it up by telling him it was DANDY and that she always used old fashioned language in bed. He had pretended to buy it then, but deep down, he knew. He had suspected even before they started dating that there was something going on under the surface with those two, but he really liked Mindy, even with all her quirks.

So Cliff accepted her decision and told her he hoped she would be happy and hugged her and left. Easiest breakup ever. Mindy still felt terrible, but relieved. She would miss Cliff, and his kindness, but she knew he deserved someone who could them give themselves fully to him. She could buy her own Ferragamos anyway, and it was easier than having to sneak back and exchange them for the right size.

There was just one more little issue to be resolved. One more sweaty, controlling, unbearably sexy, Italian issue. Mindy was certain that would not go quite as smoothly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews! A little more exposition/backstory to bring us up to speed, but the good stuff is coming!**

Daniel Castellano was a man of many talents. Gifted doctor, budding pianist, unwilling male model. But the one skill he had made use of most of his adult life was his ability to neatly bottle up his feelings after failed relationships. It began with his disastrous marriage and continued on a lesser scale with each subsequent partner. It was neat and clean and allowed him to avoid the pesky inconveniences of actually dealing with his feelings. Sure, he would slip on occasion, but that always made things worse, so he was resolved to not go down those paths again. Leave the past in the past and move on, that was the pragmatic thing to do.

And it should have worked well. All those unresolved issues and ended relationships were locked away, never to be revisited. Danny avoided reminiscing and kept very little to remind him of previous times. Pretty much all that remained of his reunion with Christina was the big letter D that had hung on the wall - Christina had dented it by throwing it on the floor. She had taken her letter C, which had amused Morgan greatly when he came to help Danny move. "She didn't want your D, Dr. C! She left the D! Too soon?"

But to Danny's dismay, one particular set of emotions would simply not let itself be locked away - in fact, he couldn't even get the door closed. It was his own fault for letting himself have feelings for Mindy in the first place. He had always had a physical attraction to her, but damn, somehow her annoying behaviors had become endearing, and she smelled good and felt good and then it wasn't just physical anymore. He had thought, a few times, that she felt the same way - hell, they almost kissed a couple of times. But there was always something, or someone, in the way, and that was fine, because dating a co-worker would be complex and messy and didn't make sense. And so he kept on keeping on, nose to the grindstone at work, going an occasional date now and then with women who were nice enough, but not... enough.

He had a suspicion that Mindy knew how he felt, because there was a bit of a weird vibe between them now, especially the last few weeks. He couldn't figure that out - the last potentially embarrassing, revealing thing he had done was months ago at the Christmas Party. That was also the timeframe of the last almost-kiss, and when she began dating Cliff, so if anything awkward was to arise, that would have been the time for it. But things were mostly normal afterwards as Danny tucked his feelings away and Mindy dealt with her new boyfriend, up until recently. Mindy had begun acting squirrelly around him, darting her eyes and fiddling constantly with whatever she was holding, avoiding being too close to him. And God forbid he touch her - she jumped and flinched when he even just nudged her.

But the strangest thing was just last week, when he got in the elevator with Mindy and Cliff. It seemed perfectly normal to Danny, dashing into the closing car and tucking himself next to Mindy. Sure he could have left a little more space between them, but he kind of liked the way her arm felt right up against his, and it wasn't like he was flexing his bicep a LOT. "Geez Danny, you're sweating all over me!" Mindy squealed, but she didn't move, she just stood there looking at the floor.

"Morning Mindy. Morning Cliff." Danny grinned at the pair. Cliff replied with the standard niceties and they continued the short trip in silence. Cliff got off at his floor after giving Mindy a quick kiss on the cheek, and Danny had expected Mindy would then move away. But she just stood there frozen, pressed against him, and then fled when the doors opened on their floor. Danny had just exhaled and continued on his day.

He couldn't decide if she was freaking out because she didn't want his touch... or because she did? It wasn't like he was going to put the moves on her, not when she was seeing someone. Or even if she was single. No, Danny had had enough drama to last him two lifetimes - he had no need to set himself up for more. Even though she was the highlight of his day, and he missed her when she wasn't there, and he looked forward to his office hours or running in to her in the hospital. No, that wasn't in the cards. He would just have to work around the weirdness.

But today was even stranger. Cliff was in the elevator alone and Danny had called out to him to hold the door. Cliff just stared at him - glared, really - and pressed the close door button. The elevator slammed shut in Danny's face. As Mindy would put it, rude. So when Mindy came in, looking a bit rattled, Danny couldn't resist a bit of teasing. It was kind if his favorite thing these days.

"Hey Mindy. See if you can teach your boyfriend some simple social graces, OK?"

Mindy just stared at him. The rest of the office workers in earshot stopped to listen, as the Mindy and Danny squabbles were always entertaining.

"What are you talking about, Danny?" Mindy asked, avoiding his eyes and reaching for her charts.

"Cliff closed the elevator on me this morning. I asked him to hold it! I mean geez it's just courtesy..." Mindy cut him off. "I'm sorry, Danny, but you'll just have to address that terrible indecency with him directly!" And with that she grabbed her charts and hustled off to her office. Danny was not dissuaded.

"Oh come on, Min. He's not MY boyfriend." Danny chided as she settled in her office chair.

"Well, he's not my boyfriend either." She replied, still avoiding his eyes. Danny was surprised, sort of... Mindy didn't have the greatest track record with relationships either.

"Oh wow. When did that happen?"

"Last week." She replied, fighting the temptation to let herself discuss the ordeal with Danny. She couldn't even look him in the eye, so how could she even begin to explain?

"He seemed like a great guy. What did you do?" Danny couldn't help but grin. He had no intention of torturing himself by attempting to act on his ridiculous feelings, but he had this silly joyful reaction to hearing that Mindy was once again single. Of course that had backfired before with Casey... as she had gone back to him.

"For your information, Danny, I broke up with him. Why do you assume that I did something wrong? I am a fantastic girlfriend, Danny. Why are you smiling?" Mindy finally looked at him and was outraged to see him enjoying her woes. His grin made her heart do leaps in her chest and that pissed her off even more.  
"Sorry, sorry." Danny replied, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "I'm sure you're great. Sometimes things don't work out and no one is to blame."

"Thank you Danny. I appreciate the support."

"So, what happened?" Danny couldn't let it go. He was not normally this curious about anyone's love life, but Mindy was an oversharer anyway, and for some reason he just wanted to know. Especially since Cliff seemed so bent out of shape.

"I just... We just... Look, it's not important." Mindy was oddly flustered.

"So when has that ever stopped you?" Danny laughed. "Most of the things you tell me aren't important!"

That was enough for Mindy. She had to get Danny out of her office. "OK!" She yelled at him in her warning voice.

"Hell, if we only talked when you had something important to say, we'd never speak!" Danny continued to tease, even with Mindy gesturing him out the door.

"OK, Danny! I need to work now! GO!" Mindy was on edge and Danny's teasing was too much right now, especially since he just kept grinning at her with that damned smile that made her knees weak. Danny got up and slipped past her to leave her office, but stopped midway. She found herself looking up at him against her better judgement and met his eyes. He was still smiling, but it was that soft, crooked smile now.

"Hey." He murmured, his voice lowered so the whole office couldn't hear. He put his hand on her arm, just above her elbow, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You'll be OK." And there they stood, just a heartbeat longer than appropriate. Danny started to move away, eyes still locked with hers, and released her arm, his fingers sliding down and just brushing against her hand, and then he was gone.

Mindy closed her office door and shut her eyes tight, heart pounding. All she could focus on was that soft touch that had left her fingers tingling. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.


	3. Chapter 3

**Just a short update. I write this at work and they made me actually work instead! I have the next two chapters plotted out... Thanks for the reviews! **

Danny retreated to his office, but he couldn't concentrate. His mind just kept drifting back to Mindy and for some reason he couldn't stop smiling. He felt a tad guilty because obviously she was miserable, but that wasn't his fault. Fortunately it was a slow day, but he really did need to do something constructive before his lunch date arrived. He couldn't just sit there and try to figure out how Mindy's brain worked. He dove into some patient records and only occasionally stopped to reflect on the morning events.

The lunch date - well, as usual, perfect timing. Danny had ventured to SoHo the past weekend to visit a little bookstore and the proprietor was an attractive young woman who had introduced him to a few new authors. She had flirted and Danny responded in kind, so they made plans for lunch. Of course he could have set up another meeting place besides the office, but she had offered to meet him there, since his schedule was normally tight and she was free all day.

This a going to be... interesting, thought Danny. He was kind of looking forward to Mindy's reaction. Would she be jealous? Not that it mattered. So what if Mindy was finally single again? She had been single plenty of times and he hadn't acted on his feelings. And she had JUST broken up with Cliff, so she was vulnerable, and he wasn't going to act on that... Danny shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts. Stop acting like a damned teenager, he told himself. Besides, Mindy would probably have a new crush before the week was over.

Around 1 pm, Danny heard a pleasant, lightly accented voice asking for him in the reception area. He left his office at the same time as Mindy, who had obviously heard it too. Patients didn't ask to see "Dan Castellano" so she had to see who was there.

"Hey, Melanie! How are you?" Danny called out as he approached the petite brunette. Mindy walked up to the counter and pretended to look at files.

"Hello Dan. Lovely office! Are you free now?" She replied.

"Yeah, let's go get some lunch."

"Oh hello! I'm Dr. Mindy Lahiri." Mindy butted in between Danny and his date. Danny turned to introduce the ladies.

"Mindy, this is Melanie Mehta. She owns a little independent bookstore in SoHo... Nevermind, you don't read." Danny turned back to Melanie.

"Excuse me, Danny, I do so read! Well, mostly magazines but those are like books, only with ads, and pictures... But I read! Melanie, I love your accent!" Mindy was smiling, but it was obviously forced.

"Oh, thank you. I moved from London as a teen but I can't seem to shake it!" Melanie's smile was genuine.

"OK, let's go Melanie." Danny interrupted the girl talk. He could tell Mindy was not pleased with this surprise, and that was entertaining, but it spelled potential trouble.

"So Danny, is Melanie going to be hosting a women's night in the bookstore or something? Are you actually networking?" Mindy turned her fake smile to Danny.

"No, Mindy, this is - is it a date, Melanie? Are we good calling it that?" Melanie shrugged and took Danny's arm. "I think so, Dan. But good idea about the joint marketing, Mindy! I'll have to give that some thought." She smiled a dazzling smile at Danny and they stepped away from a disgruntled Mindy.

Danny placed his hand strategically on the small of Melanie's back as they walked away, and he couldn't resist a peek back to see Mindy's reaction. She looked away quickly, but Danny caught the hurt in her eyes and had a pang of regret. Well, that took the fun out of it, he thought. He wasn't the kind of man who played games where emotions were concerned and though he had not planned it, that was how it seemed to be playing out.

The lunch date went well and Danny truly liked Melanie. There wasn't a connection, and though neither one said anything, they both knew this wouldn't go any further. Melanie had picked up on the tension between Mindy and Danny and she knew better than to join a love triangle, no matter how attractive the potential reward.

Danny hadn't been back from lunch for more than a few minutes when Mindy stormed in, fired up and loaded for bear.

"Seriously, Danny? You're dating an Indian woman and you didn't tell me?" Mindy flung herself in the chair across from Danny's desk and crossed her arms.

"I didn't know that was a requirement, Mindy. What's the big deal?" Danny tried to concentrate on the computer monitor so he could keep a straight face.

"Oh, please. You didn't think that was worth a mention?"

"Not really. She's a nice lady, is all." Oh, but Danny couldn't leave it at that. He grinned to himself. "Besides, I told you there was one race I hadn't been with..."

As expected, Mindy was outraged. "Oh my God, Danny, that is disgusting. That poor woman! Does she know you are USING her like that?" Mindy slammed her palms on Danny's desk.

"Settle down, Mindy. We just had lunch. That's not why I asked her out, anyway. It's just... a coincidence."

"Oh, right Danny. You are just coincidentally dating a petite Indian woman with fantastic boobs. That's really hard to believe, considering..." Mindy trailed off mid sentence. She had caught herself just a wee bit late.

Danny looked away from the monitor and their eyes met. The silence hung heavy in the air and Mindy couldn't catch her breath. The way Danny was looking at her had her completely rattled.

"Considering what?" Danny said slowly, his gaze unwavering. It seemed like he was daring her to finish the sentence.

Mindy stammered and looked away. "Never mind, Danny. Like you said, I never say anything important." She stood up and hurried to the door. "I'm just going to go read a BOOK, OK?"

Danny exhaled and wiped the sweat from his brow. Was that almost an admission from her, he wondered... of her own feelings? Or that she was aware of his feelings? Which would be worse, he wondered. He just couldn't tell what she was thinking or feeling, but something had changed. He definitely needed to get a handle on the situation before he took any action, because this... whatever... was not going to go away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks so much to the folks who have given me feedback - it is awesome! I promise not to string this along TOO much further...**

Mindy was beyond furious. She just couldn't pinpoint why. It was none of her business who Danny dated - regardless of her wandering imagination, in reality, their relationship did not extend beyond friendly coworkers... except maybe it did. She tried to tell herself her indignation was righteous, that Danny was being a sexist pig, and THAT was the cause of her upset. But she didn't believe it. She had almost said too much, because of course her first reaction was that Danny had chosen someone similar to her on purpose, to hurt her for some reason, or to maybe be a substitute for her... But why would he do that, when he can have me, she thought, and was promptly horrified by that realization.

She couldn't have known it truly was a coincidence. At least, Danny had convinced himself of that.

It was almost a relief for Mindy that she didn't see Danny for the next couple of days, as their hospital schedules conflicted. She really hadn't figured out what to say to him that wouldn't be awkward, but she had to keep in touch with him somehow. So instead of calling him, she just texted him cute kitten pictures that she found on the Internet. She had done this since they first met and he used to find it incredibly annoying. Now, it was one of those things he actually looked forward to, believe it or not. He would either ignore them or reply with a one-word message - usually STOP - but he didn't really want her to stop. It wasn't that he was a fan of cats, at all, but the pictures were just so incredibly... Mindy... that he couldn't resist.

He was definitely more of a dog person, he thought to himself, looking at a picture of a kitten with milk on its face and the caption "I barf'd." If he was going to have a dog, it would be a real man's dog, a German Shepherd or a lab. Definitely not one of those fluffy little things that you can fit in your purse. Oh, Mindy would definitely want one of those little froufrou dogs with a sweater and a bow in it's hair but absolutely not! No way would he ever entertain the idea... what the hell? Why am I thinking about Mindy's future dogs? he asked himself, and he shoved his phone back in his pocket and went to his scheduled delivery.

The following day, Mindy had a morning full of appointments and didn't run into Danny until the early afternoon. She was talking to Betsy about a client when Danny came up next to her and interrupted.

"Hey Betsy, can you pull the chart for Denise Madison for me?"

"Excuse me Danny, we were talking" Mindy turned to Danny and audibly gasped. "What is that on your face?"

Danny he hadn't shaved in a couple of days and was sporting a decent amount of stubble. "I decided to let a grow, I dunno. Maybe I'll try a beard." He replied. "It looks... rugged." But really, he was just too lazy to shave.

"I hate it so much!" Mindy shrieked.

"Why does that not surprise me?" sighed Danny, giving her his best exasperated look.

Mindy reached up, and with her usual lack of respect for personal space, rubbed the back of her hand against Danny's cheek. That's all she meant to do, just touch the fuzz, but she got caught in Danny's eyes. His expression changed subtly, with a hint of amusement and a whole lot of heat. Mindy flipped her hand over, sliding her palm across the rough surface, stroking his cheek slowly and rather sensually. She swore it almost felt like Danny leaned into her caress. They just gazed at each other while Mindy held Danny's cheek and lightly rubbed her thumb along the stubble on his chin. The air felt thick and heavy between them and though only seconds passed, it seemed like time stopped. Danny let his eyes drop to Mindy's lips, and his own mouth felt dry as he held his breath.

"Dr. L, why are you petting Dr. C's face like a golden retriever?" asked Morgan. His nasally voice shook them out of the moment. A troup of the office employees were standing there watching as though it was a reality tv show.

Mindy pulled back her hand and turned her focus back to her charts, her own cheeks burning.

"Because she hates it." Danny said, with a mischievous smile. "She thinks I'm a hideous monster." He was grinning widely as he continued to look at Mindy.

"I never said that!" she stammered. "It's just rough and scratchy." She didn't want to look at Danny again but she didn't seem to have much control over her actions these days.

"So it looks good, you're just worried about how it feels...?"he said, his voice slow and seductive, raising the at the end as if he was posing a question instead of prolonging the teasing.

Mindy grabbed her charts and whirled away from him, storming to her office. "Whatever, Danny. You're just going to shred the face of your woman when you kiss her. No big deal."

"I'll keep that in mind" he called out to Mindy's departing backside. He then let out a deep breath and glanced back at the staring eyes of the staff. "Morgan, Tamra, Betsy. Get back to work!" he said and walked back to his office.

His woman, he thought. Huh.

Betsy & Tamara gave each other knowing glances and Betsy just sighed. "Those two..."

"I know, right? The just need to do it and get it over with." Tamra replied.

"What are Dr. C and Dr. L gonna do?" asked Morgan, leaning over the counter. Betsy and Tamra gave him a look.

"Unresolved sexual tension, Morgan. It's fun to watch for a while, but eventually they have to, you know..." Betsy struggled with the explanation.

Just then, Mindy ran out of her office. "Oh my God! Oh my God you guys!" She shrieked.

"What? What's going on?" Danny darted out with a concerned expression.

"I can't believe it. The New Yorker is doing an article on professional women of color and they want me! I'm going to do an interview and a photoshoot and oh my GOD!" Mindy was jumping up and down with joy. Morgan ran over and gave her a bear hug, lifting her off the ground.

"OK stop Morgan! You're crushing me, STOP!" Mindy smoothed out her clothes and smiled at the group.  
"That's excellent, Mindy." Jeremy nodded and walked back to his office. Betsy and Tamra gave congratulations too. Mindy turned to Danny, who was standing in his doorway with his arms crossed. She looked at him expectantly.  
"That should be great promotion for the practice." Danny said and started to turn away.  
"Seriously, Danny? I'm about to become the next Dr. Oz and and that's all you can say?"  
Danny smiled and instantly Mindy caught that he was teasing her again. That seems to be all he did nowadays. "It's great, Min. Good for you. I hope you remember us little people when you're hanging out with Lady GooGoo and Puff Diddy." He rubbed his prickly face and went back in his office. Mindy forgot her excitement for a moment and eyeballed Danny as he walked away.  
"Hate to see you go but love to watch you leave..." She muttered to herself as she returned to her office to make plans for her interview.


	5. Chapter 5

**I powered through these last two chapters! Hope you enjoy them.**

The next day, Mindy spent most of her free morning practicing interview techniques in the mirror. She wrote some cheat notes as well, so that should have some ready-made answers - even if she didn't know the questions yet. Deciding she needed to get a new outfit for her photo shoot, she headed into the lobby where she ran into Danny, who was coming back from a delivery. The first thing that she noticed was that he was clean-shaven.

"What happened Danny? Didn't your woman like your scruffy face?" Danny rolled his eyes and grinned.

"It itched like a sonofabitch." he told Mindy. "Besides, what you said about it being scratchy - I didn't want to cause any damage to anyone's face... or anywhere else."

"Yuck, Danny! I don't want to hear about your weird sex life!" Mindy grimaced.

"Really? You've always been overly interested before." Yes, that sounded like jealousy, thought Danny.

"Well, I don't want to hear about you and Miss "Shop Around the Corner, OK?" Mindy tried to dart past Danny but he blocked her path.

"I'm actually not seeing Melanie anymore." He said quietly.

Mindy felt her pulse quicken. "I don't care. Whatever, Danny. At least you got to cross that off your bucket list."

Danny leaned over to whisper in her ear. He was so close she could feel his hot breath on her neck as he spoke.

Just two words.

"Not yet."

By the time Mindy recovered from the shiver going down her spine, Danny had disappeared into his office. She fought her desire to follow him and pin him against the wall and make him explain.

God damn you, Daniel Castellano, she thought as she poked through the sales racks at Macys.

"Just what the hell are you doing to me!? Every day, every time I see you, you're taunting me, teasing me... you know what it does to me obviously... and I'm just powerless to fight it!"

But then as she came across a dress that she just HAD to have, she realized she wasn't powerless... what she needed to do was turn the tables on him. He needed a taste of how own medicine, and this was just the thing to give him that taste.

When Mindy returned to the office, she summoned Danny.

"I need you to help me decide which outfit I should use for my photo shoot!"

Mindy shut the door behind him and grabbed one of her garment bags. "OK, Danny, turn around so I can change.

"Okay... what? No! Just call me when you're ready." He stammered, bolting towards the door, but Mindy cut him off.

"Oh come on Danny! Just turn around. I don't want to take all day doing this!"

"Fine." grumbled Danny. He turned around, arms crossed, and looked at the floor. This was ridiculous, he thought.

He stood listening to the sound of Mindy disrobing, trying to think of appropriate things. Baseball. Catholic nuns. His grandfather's war stories. She was making a lot of noise, rustling clothing in plastic, and Danny was starting to lose his mind.

"Are you done yet?" He growled, and took a peek over his shoulder.

Big mistake.

Mindy had her back to him, sliding deep blue silk up her hips. He caught a glimpse of dusky skin and soft pink lace before he whipped his head back around. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and balled his hands into fists. World War II. World War II. World War II.

No there was no amount of military history that could remove the thought of Mindy's panty covered derrière from his mind.

It was having an a fortunate unfortunate effect on his nether regions as well.

"Okay, Danny... can you zip me up?" Mindy asked him, voice a little lower than usual.

Danny did not want to do that. He didn't want to be close enough to touch her and certainly didn't want to be close enough for her to notice his... affliction.

But he turned around to see Mindy standing waiting, one arm holding up her hair, her back exposed. He saw nothing but skin and dress. No matching pink bra, he noted, swallowing hard.

He found himself behind her. Reaching forward, he tentatively put one hand on her hip - to steady her or himself, he wasn't sure. With the other hand he grasped her zipper.

He was no stranger to zipping up a dress, but this, this was like a foreign experience. With his fingers splayed on her hip, pressing just a bit too hard, he slowly took the zipper up her from the small of her back to below her shoulder blades where the dress stopped.

His knuckles just barely brushed her skin and he saw a little ripple where she shivered at his touch.

And he wanted very badly to touch her more, imagining if she shivered at that, what other fantastic reactions could his fingers induce? This was dangerous territory indeed.

Mindy moved her hand away from her head and allowed the black silky strands of her hair to fall, slipping over Danny's fingers. She spun around and Danny backed away from her, sitting against her desk awkwardly crouched trying to hide his own reaction.

"What do you think, Danny?" Mindy preened and struck a pose. "Is this doctorly enough?"

"Too sexy" Danny grunted, barely able to form a sentence.

"Seriously Danny? Not even!" Mindy suppressed a smile. "There's barely any cleavage." She plucked at the top of the dress, leaning towards him a bit, doing that classic girl move to squeeze her breasts together. "And it's not even short!" She turned sideways, placing a hand on the hem, and hiking it higher on her thigh. Danny looked like he was going to self combust.

"Save it for one of your hot dates!" He wheezed, his voice raspier than usual. "Let's see the other outfit."

Mindy got exactly the reaction she wanted, including Danny's failed concealment attempts. She had never intended to wear that dress to the interview. She smiled sweetly and requested his help with the zipper again.

Danny exhaled loudly. Oh great, now I'm helping undress her, he thought.

He grabbed the zipper and gingerly slid it down without touching any other part of her body, then turned around with his eyes tightly shut and waited for her to finish changing. Fortunately, this outfit did not have any zippers. When she signaled him to turn around, he was pleasantly surprised to see Mindy in a very simple white blouse and black striped skirt.

"That one, wear that to the interview." he nodded and looked away.

"Are you sure, Danny? It's not too plain?"

Danny sighed. "Whatever, you never take my advice. Why do I bother?" Mindy smiled to herself... she almost always took his advice.

"Okay, well, thanks Danny. I might have a couple other options, but I appreciate the help." She grabbed him by the arms and kissed him quickly on the cheek.

"Am I done here?" he asked her crankily.

She smiled sweetly at him, then pushed him out of her office. For now, she thought.


	6. Chapter 6

**Last chapter! The big finish!**

Danny was called out for an emergency delivery and didn't get back until well after office hours had ended. Only the safety lights were on in the lobby, but he saw Mindy's office was still lit up. He knocked on the door, and when there was no response, he slid it open and flipped off the light.

"Hey!" Danny heard a croak coming from inside Mindy's office.

"Min? You in here?" he called out, looking inside and turning on the light. Mindy wasn't at her desk or on the couch. She was laying on the floor.

"Hey, what's going on?" Danny said softly, squatting next to her. He could see that she had been crying.

"It's nothing, Danny." She mumbled, turning her face away. Of course, he could see that it was something.

Danny grabbed some tissue off her desk and coaxed Mindy into a sitting position. She wrapped her arms around her knees, her eyes were puffy and red, mascara running on her cheeks.

"Thanks, Danny. I just want to be alone."

"No, you don't." he said knowingly. "What's going on? Did Kim and Kanye break up?" He nudged her playfully.

"Ha ha, Danny, you're so funny. Like I said, it's nothing. I just got a call from the New Yorker and they canceled the interview. They said they're going a different way. " These last few words were sobbed more than spoken.

Shit, thought Danny, this is not good.

"Hey, hey. I'm sorry Min, but hey, you're right. It is no big deal. It's their loss, you know. So who cares about a stupid magazine?"

"I care, Danny. But it's not just the magazine though. It's like... my whole life!" Mindy grabbed another Kleenex. "Every time I think something is going to make me happy, I lose it. I just don't understand. Why is happiness always out of my reach?"

Danny understood exactly how she felt. He had been there too. "I know, Min. A... a lot of people go through that. It's just part of life."

"I know, Danny, but it still hurts." She continued to sob.

Danny reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and Mindy tipped herself to lean against him. "Mindy, Mindy, Mindy." He said with an uncharacteristically sympathetic voice. "It's not out of your reach. You just need to stop thinking that something out there is going to make you happy. You need to make your own happiness. You can't rely on a magazine... or a person... or anything else to provide that for you. You can do it all by yourself. You're awesome, you know." He tightened his grasp and Mindy turned and wrapped her arms around Danny's neck, her face buried in his shoulder.

"Thank you, Danny." She murmured, her voice muffled. "You just seem to know exactly what I need lately..."

Oh boy, thought Danny. Vulnerable Mindy in his arms once again... Alarms were going off in his head.

Mindy turned her face towards Danny and he could feel her breath on his neck. Shit shit shit, he thought.

He knew any moment Mindy would be presenting him with another dilemma. He had seen When Harry Met Sally. This was textbook. He knew something was going to happen between them, but he didn't want it to be because she was sad or lonely or needy. He wanted to know that when he kissed her - and he knew it was just a matter of when, not if - that she was there because she wanted him. Not comfort or support, just him. But he only had a few seconds, because if she looked at him with those eyes again, there was no way that he could resist her.

As difficult it was to break from the embrace, he had to do it now. "Okay Mindy, lets get your mind off of all this. I'll buy you some dinner. How about that Thai place you like so much?"

Mindy dabbed her eyes again, smiling through the tears, and nodded. "Okay Danny, let me just fix up my face and we can go." Danny helped Mindy up off the floor and told her to meet him in his office when she was ready.

It was more than just a few minutes that passed, but finally Mindy arrived bundled in her trenchcoat. Her eyes were shining again. They walked arm in arm to the Thai restaurant where the host greeted her with a little bit of trepidation. She whispered to Danny "I think he's in love with me!" as they made their way to the table.

As they sat down, Mindy took off her coat and Danny did a double take.

"You're wearing your hot date dress." he said, his voice cracking. His eyes roamed the length of her body. She smiled a very typical Mindy smile back at him, faking innocence.

"And you managed to zip it up all by yourself."

"Imagine that" she said in a sing-song voice as she sat down. Danny knew he had been had. He really didn't mind a bit either.

"So what's good here?" he asked her, looking over the menu which was full of complex dishes with foreign names. He thought Mindy looked far more delicious than anything the restaurant could serve. He wanted to climb over the table and take her in his arms and carry her back to those alleged mattresses in the back room.

"Well, the chicken satay with peanut sauce is always a must. And the mee grob, it has shrimp and sweet crispy noodles, soooo yummy. Oh, and the pad Thai! I love the pad Thai!" Mindy exclaimed.

"I love the pad Thai too." Danny replied with a sigh.

Mindy narrowed her eyes and looked up. "I thought you hadn't eaten here before..."

Danny just smiled back at her enigmatically and Mindy's heart was suddenly in her throat. He couldn't mean what I think he means, she thought to herself, but the look in his eyes told her differently. She suddenly did not want dinner. She just wanted Danny.

Fortunately the waitress came up to take their order. Danny let Mindy take the reins, as she chose out this dish and that, shyly glancing at him when she ordered the pad Thai.

They sat at the table for hours, sharing the different flavors and talking and laughing. Danny felt the glass noodles were too disgusting looking to try, but Mindy forced him, rolling some up on the fork and feeding him a bite.

"Wow, they actually don't taste anywhere near as bad as they look!" he said laughingly and licked a bit of the sauce off his lip. Mindy had never wanted to be Rad Na sauce so much in her life.

Neither of them wanted to leave and face empty apartments, but the waitress and host were giving them disapproving looks. Mindy knew they had to leave or face being kicked out again.

Denny took care of the bill as Mindy gathered the leftovers. Day old Thai food was the only thing better than fresh Thai food, thought Mindy. Danny helped her into her coat, letting his fingers brush little bit too obviously against her bare skin and she shivered.

"Are you cold?" Danny murmured into her ear from behind her. No, Danny, I'm actually too warm, she thought to herself, but just shook her head. They went out and made their way down the street, Mindy carrying the doggy bag. She linked her free arm with Danny's and he gave her a sidelong glance. Slipping his hand out of his pocket, Danny linked his fingers with Mindy's and squeezed her hand. She smiled and squeezed back and they walked in silence for a few blocks. It was very uncharacteristic of Mindy.

When she finally spoke, her voice had a dreamy quality.

"Thanks again for being there for me, Danny." He didn't reply, just squeezed her hand again. She sighed. "Gosh, Danny you took me out to dinner and now we're walking down the street hand-in-hand. It kind of feels like a date."

Danny still didn't speak. Mindy bit her lip and looked at him sideways.

"Yeah... it does." he finally said, but he kept looking straight ahead. They continued walking and Mindy decided to press it further.

"So... are you going to send me home in a taxi? Or are you going to take me to my doorstep and lay a big goodnight kiss on me?" Her heart was beating so hard she felt like it would break her chest.

Danny chuckled. "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you."

There was a long pause before she replied.

"Yes."

She said so quietly that Danny could barely hear it.

Danny stopped walking, pulling Mindy back toward him. She kept walking, so this caused her to trip backwards. Danny reached for her, turning her towards him as he caught her.

"Well Mindy, your doorstep is awfully far away." he said with a crooked grin. Mindy looked at Danny with confusion, then her eyes flitted to the building behind them.

Danny's building.

"What...?" She looked back to Danny, and they gazed at each other for a moment. Danny leaned in, taking her face in his hands and softly capturing her lips with his own. She responded with a fervor that surprised them both, as Mindy dropped her bags and wrapped her arms around his neck. This is better than day old Thai food, she thought, before her ability to think was erased and all she could focus on was Danny. His taste, his smell, his touch filled her brain. Danny ran his hands down her body and grasped her hips, pulling her as close as possible, pressing himself against her. She let out a muffled moan when she felt him and her knees wobbled. Danny groaned in response. There was no one else in the world, until a passer-by let out a disgusted "Get a room!" And then they both laughed and Mindy pulled back, almost disbelieving that this was finally happening. She ran her fingers across Danny's lips.

"I am so glad you shaved."

"My woman didn't like it." Danny replied with a smile. He held her tight, and turned them both slightly, looking towards the building then back to Mindy.

"Do I have to sleep on the couch?" Mindy murmured, eliciting a laugh from Danny.

"No chance in hell." He released her and moved towards the stairs, taking her hand. They got to the door and Mindy stopped him.

"Will you make me pancakes?"

Danny grabbed her again, kissing her lips, her cheek, her neck, punctuating each kiss with a dish. "Pancakes... eggs... bacon..." He caught her mouth again. "I'll give you a Grand Slam."

Mindy smiled and grabbed him by the lapels of his coat. "I know you will." She kissed him softly.

"And after that, you'll make me breakfast."


End file.
